Movie Review: Madagascar 2

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

All the escapees from the New York zoo board a rebuilt plane in Madagascar with hopes of getting back to the city, only to find themselves stranded in the wilds of Africa. They discover herds (and prides and whatevers) of their own kinds but have trouble relating in the wild.

All of the voice talent from the first film is back: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, and Andy Richter, so of course that means your kids will go in already knowing pretty much every character in the movie. There are a few new characters thrown in which brings the total to a whole bunch of characters, which also means there is a lot of plot and development, but the story is still mainly focused on the familiar gang. When it does get bogged down there's usually some silly slapstick penguin or lemur moment or such to bring the kid's attention right back to the screen.

The film itself looks gorgeous, and I didn't think I would say this after seeing Wall-E, but it's probably the best looking animated film I've ever seen. You can get caught up in the settings very easily. Africa never looked so good.

The best gauge for these films is seeing it with a large audience of kids, and I was in a theater full of little ones, cheering, laughing and singing "I like to move it, move it" the entire time so I think it's pretty much a hit. It is aimed a lot more at children, but the adults in attendance all had plenty of scenes to enjoy as well.

Of course, the film isn't all silliness and sight-gags as there are lessons about family loyalty and tolerance built in. So perhaps it borrows heavily from The Lion King for some of these, but imitation is the sincerest form of flattery right?

Overall this a worthy follow-up that adds to the characters developed in the first film and is probably even a better movie altogether.

7.5/10